Bloch's Quintet

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1923, the League of Composers presented its first chamber concert in New York City. Their stated mission was to present music by living composers whose works represented new trends in music.

Their opening concert included a world premiere: a piano quintet by Swiss composer Ernest Bloch, who was then living in America. While not a radical work, Bloch’s quintet was strong stuff for 1923, and even included some quartertone elements.

The New York Times critic was impressed, but not won over, writing, “To the inevitable question, ‘Do you like it?’ it seems almost impossible to answer, but if pressed I should say, no, not for any fault in the work but simply because of its too apparent determination to be emotionally stirring.”

British critic Ernest Newmann, on the other hand, singled out Bloch’s First Quintet for special praise. “No other piece of chamber music produced in any country during that period can be placed in the same class with it.”

For his part, Bloch said simply, “I write without any regard to please either the so-called ‘ultra-moderns’ or the so-called ‘old-fashioned.’”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): Piano Quintet No. 1; Portland String Quartet; Paul Posnak, piano; Arabesque 6618